CBS’s ‘MacGyver’ brings in “Lost’ star Henry Ian Cusick as series regular

Originally posted Friday, June 28, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

Henry Ian Cusick will join the fourth season of CBS's "MacGyver," the network's only scripted series shot in Atlanta.

Cusick, who last worked on Fox's recently cancelled "The Passage" in Atlanta, is best known for his role on "Lost," followed by "The 100." He will play opposite Lucas Till, the Marietta native who plays MacGyver.

His character Russ, as noted by CBS, is a “handsome and quick-witted Oxford-educated ex-Military who is a master manipulator and salesman – skilled in propaganda and lie detection with an extremely high emotional intelligence. A very wealthy man, he’s used to getting his way and not beyond enjoying the spoils of war: expensive suits, fast cars, private jets, house in Monte Carlo.”

Last season, former co-lead George Eads (“CSI”) left the show after some internal conflicts. He, like Russ, was ex military but he was more salt of the earth. With his departure, the second half of season three of “MacGyver” gave other series recurring and regular characters more air time. The producers ultimately upped Levy Train from recurring to regular.

The show - a revival of the original from the late 1980s and early 1990s -  has been a staple on CBS’s Friday night lineup since 2016.